BY CHRISTOFF OOSTHUYSEN

Communities of Practice (CoPs) are “like treasure troves waiting to be unlocked when it comes to identifying challenges and crafting effective solutions”. This is what ChatGPT tells me when I ask for help in describing why a CoP is a good idea for solving challenges.

But this is not always true! 

Sometimes it may be hard to overcome preconceived ideas by those showing up for a CoP project. Or all those that could contribute to a common solution are not in the room. Or the assumption that others in the ecosystem will share information for the common good, may not be realistic. 

One of the biggest mistakes one can make is what we experienced when working in the DigiBiz Community of Practice for Practitioners and Programme Managers. 

Just over 20 members of the DigiBiz Network joined this CoP to explore themes and solutions for the good of the wider entrepreneurship development sector. Between June and November 2023, we organised seven online workshops, where we first identified a range of issues practitioners find of interest or challenging in their work. We then decided to focus on two themes so that we may develop deeper insights and potential solutions that will help in supporting small businesses in their growth. We also invited a few topic experts to help us in grappling with these themes.

The CoP members decided to focus on two themes, namely:

• • Helping small businesses understand their options in the adoption of digital tools and the use of apps; and

• • How programme managers may learn from what works and doesn’t work in the recruitment of entrepreneurs onto business support programmes.

The result of the activities of this CoP was the publication of an article on good practice in the recruitment of entrepreneurs onto business support programmes (view the article here); and a Quick Guide for entrepreneurs and business support practitioners covering online tools and apps they are likely to find useful in their businesses (view the guide here).

“When I honestly ask myself how much this CoP shifted the needle in the practice of supporting small business owners and entrepreneurs, I must confess that it is not by much.”

When I honestly ask myself how much this CoP shifted the needle in the practice of supporting small business owners and entrepreneurs, I must confess that it is not by much.

Yes, the Quick Guide is a useful resource and it is available for use on the DigiBiz.net.za platform. And yes, the article that was written on recruitment offers insights from the two programmes that responded. But when I consider our ambition with the CoP, I must acknowledge that it falls short of expectations.

My biggest disappointment and learning was that the CoP members assumed that their enthusiasm to contribute to better impact in the wider ecosystem, is shared by other parties and important players. This was best illustrated by the attempt at doing straw sample interviews with programme managers on what they find work best when recruiting participants onto their programmes. After all, is it not in matching the right applicants, with the right programme, that the best results will be achieved?

Only two programmes were prepared to share their insights and another two considered participation but ultimately declined to participate. By far the most were clear from the start. They were not able to share insights because they would give away their competitive advantage. Their recruitment approach is part of what they use as unique features when competing with other service providers who are pitching for the same contracts.

“For CoPs to be effective, they need to connect with the wider market of service providers and key players in the entrepreneurship ecosystem.”

ChatGTP’s answer was also disappointing. Our experience was that CoPs are not “treasure troves’ ‘. It is not a collaborative platform  “waiting to be unlocked”. It is not always effective in “identifying challenges” and “crafting effective solutions”.

The intention of the 20-odd CoP members, who gave their time and kept showing up to find solutions, is not the key factor that makes CoPs effective. What is much more important is the understanding of the wider entrepreneurship ecosystem players. Do they view collaboration as an important part of their efforts to see small business growth? Are they focussing on their competitive advantage to beat other service providers when a potential client is seeking to appoint an entrepreneur support organisation or business development services provider?

For CoPs to be effective, they need to connect with the wider market of service providers and key players in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. The national project of creating economic growth through small business development is not always viewed as a collaborative effort and as long as this is the case, CoPs will be limited in their effect.

“CoPs remain a very powerful way for those who are prepared to collaborate to work together on finding solutions… and to set the pace for others to see how their ‘best practice’ creates ‘best results’.”

NOW, it may be said that this is a rather pessimistic view of CoPs, but I am not saying CoPs have no role. It is just a limited role, with realistic expectations. To anticipate that CoPs will serve as a “treasure trove waiting to be unlocked” is unrealistic. The entrepreneurship support marketplace in South Africa is too competitive for this to be true.

However, CoPs remain a very powerful way for those who are prepared to collaborate to work together on finding solutions, to start implementing those solutions and to set the pace for others to see how their “best practice” creates “best results”. 

This is what we experience with the Practitioners and Programme Managers DigiBiz CoP. Those who showed up could contribute, and jointly they could create outputs to share with others! CoPs are not just a gathering of like-minded individuals who reinforce their shared views. It offers a very effective way for those with common interests to come together and do something that will be useful for themselves and others who share their interest.

Collaboration is one of the DigiBiz Programmes’s key organisational pillars. I must therefore ask you this question: “How do we as practitioners – who are at the forefront of helping small businesses to contribute to a better society through growth, job creation and social inclusion — make sure our work has maximum impact?”

“(It is) a very effective way for those with common interests to come together and do something that will be useful for themselves and the others that share their interest.”

Is there another way to promote “good practice” for adoption by a wide range of parties working with small businesses? Perhaps we are limited in our options?

Using the space offered by CoPs is one way we may ensure that we live up to what we can jointly contribute to the prosperity of our people. We can start by joining a CoP discussion, finding what works well, and then start doing this in our work. If it works, then others will follow…

The DigiBiz Network is here for you to join us on a journey of exploring new solutions and promoting the wide use of impactful work! Looking forward to seeing you on https://DigiBiz.net.za.

What was achieved with the DigiBiz Community of Practice for Practitioners & Programme Managers

The DigiBiz CoP for Practitioners and Programme Managers planned to tackle two themes, namely strategies for effective recruitment and digital apps/tools useful for entrepreneurs.

Tools & Apps

Members explored which affordable apps they may introduce to their small business clients and how this may be best communicated. Ideally, they wished for a space to be created on the DigiBiz Network Platform for sharing advice and for entrepreneurs to ask questions. They also wished for training options to be readily available on the platform so that entrepreneurs may have easy access to acquiring skills. 

A Quick Guide on the use of Apps for Small Businesses was produced and published on the DigiBiz platform, but the CoP did not manage (yet) to organise workshops or training opportunities to make it practical for entrepreneurs (view the guide here).

Programme Recruitment

The CoP identified recruitment of entrepreneurs into their programmes as a key success factor as matching the right participant with the right programme is the starting point for creating an impact on the participants’ businesses. They wanted to identify ways to promote criteria for recruitment that promote inclusivity. They were interested in tools that could be developed to match practitioner and participant. 

They thought that AI solutions could support recruitment. They were concerned about unsuccessful applicants and ways to offer them some value. They considered how a platform of available programmes or an app could help entrepreneurs in finding the right programmess for them. And they saw value in making use of monitoring and evaluation tools, to link recruitment with impact measurement.

The CoP launched a straw survey to hear from programme managers what they believe to be effective in their recruitment drives and what they find is not working so well or mistakes are being made. The plan was to consolidate the findings of this survey into a short paper or blog post and to share this widely with programme managers. An article was written on challenging experience to gain insight into best practise and published on the DigiBiz Platform (view the article here).